Puerto Vallarta, ay, ay, ay!

After having to skip Cabo San Lucas as Hurricane Paul had stirred up the waters around the cape, we added an extra sea day onto our itinerary. The passengers weren’t too happy, but they understood we could not tender (take a tiny boat from the ship, to the shore) without putting them in peril. We instead did “scenic cruising” which basically taunted them with the beaches in Cabo that they COULDN’T go to that day.

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta at 4:00am, Friday morning, two hours earlier than planned since we had to medically disembark someone straight away. I went to Walmart (yes, there is one in Puerto Vallarta) with some of the staff to find them some Halloween costumes. I had a brainstorm while watching some of our passengers bungle through Walmart in their full-on tourist armour. I’ll wait to explain that one with a picture of Lucy on Halloween. I can’t wait.
From there we did a bit of poking around the downtown flea-market area and haggled and got hassled but I was strong and did not buy a thing. Lucy got taken for some weird piece of Mexican art however. Eric, Lucy and I picked out a not-too-skeezy place to eat on a side street near the beach, enjoyed a Mexican meal and then walked to the beach. Lucy had to work, so Eric convinced me to go to the gay beach with him and there we ran into our Cruise Director, Bobby. The beach was a very nice area and a couple of cold pina coladas and a corona later, we were set. The total lack of beautiful, skinny women was great and there were gorgeous (albeit very shiny and speedo’d) men everywhere so all in all not such a bad idea. Spent the day swimming, drinking, and sunning; then back to the ship for dinner and a nap before starting work.

Shorely in the sun

I finally broke down and ventured into the world of technology. That’s right folks, she who hath always hated computers now currently owns a laptop. Gasp, it cannot be true! The reason being, I really prefer not to lose friends over the course of my cruiseship time. So, I decided to spend $1200 dollars on this little machine to keep in touch. Now you all know what you’re all worth to me. About 60 dollars each. Yep, no one ever said friendship is cheap….but apparently I am quite cheap.

October 23, 2006 I embarked on my second contract as an Assistant Cruise Director aboard Holland America Line’s ms Ryndam, leaving from Los Angeles, California. Perhaps one day I shall post a bit about my previous contract in Alaska, but for now this is just an attempt to keep updated (and for myself, since I’m not good at keeping a journal).

Our first cruise is a 19-day jaunt down the pacific coast of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and on through the Panama Canal. I am no doubt a very fortunate person to have this opportunity. Many of our passengers have been saving for years to do this trip through the Panama and it is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, from what I hear. (However, I’m cheating as I will be doing it at least twice in four months as I will be going back through the canal in January, but they don’t need to know that). We will then proceed to Columbia, Belize and then the Yucatan portion of Mexico on our way to Tampa, Florida. Tampa will be my home port for the next two months.

I’ve decided to put up my itinerary, so if anyone is interested or even just bored- sitting in their cubicle- they can cheer themselves up by looking up the itinerary and picturing me in whichever exotic port of call I may be in that day. Perhaps I might be basking in the sun or maybe sipping a Rum Punch or snorkeling through crystal-clear water. Of course if it is a sea day that means I’m working very, very hard. I could possibly be playing volleyball, pictionary, bingo, teaching line-dancing or maybe just lying on deck drinking a pina colada since, well it’s all part of my job! I’m sure that would cheer ME right up if I were in rainy, gray and dismal Vancouver. Wow, I never knew I had this evil streak in me. This is what all of you get for not quitting your jobs and coming to work with me here. If you didn’t get what I really mean to say from that last sentiment, I mean that of course, I miss you all and wish you could be here with me. That, is the part about ship life that is not any fun. So, hopefully the requests for pictures will be met and perhaps my small blurbs will let you all know I haven’t been thrown overboard just yet.
Here’s to good ships, here’s to wood ships, here’s to ships that sail the seven seas....but the best ships are relationships and may they always be.